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American Idol recap: Angie Miller wins the night

After singing full out for weeks, “all day and all night, seven days a week,” to quote Jimmy Iovine, the ladies of American Idol have got to be feeling the strain.

That was evident on Wednesday’s performance episode, whether it was Kree Harrison seeming disconnected from a song, Amber Holcomb hitting some flat notes and even the sublime Candice Glover stumbling a little.

But one contestant seemed laser-focused on winning that confetti shower and that was Angie Miller.

I won’t say Angie was flawless, but she gave two of her best performances of the season on Wednesday and her timing couldn’t be better considering the finale is in just a few weeks.

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I hate to echo Randy Jackson’s asinine catchphrase, but Angie really does seem to be in it to win it.

If it was up to the judges, however, it seems that Amber would wear the crown. Their effusive praise of Amber, even after she bottomed out with a dull performance of a ridiculous song, made that blindingly clear. Poor Kree, meanwhile, was more or less told to prepare to be voted out. And Candice, the same Candice who just two weeks ago gave what was called one of the best performances in American Idol history, was on Wednesday warned not to overuse her powerful voice.

There is a chance that Kree will go home on Thursday, at least based on her first song, but I felt that she out-sang both Amber and Candice in the second round. And it could just as easily be Amber in danger, given how cheesy her “MacArthur Park” cover was. Iovine was right to call Amber out on that one, no matter what Nicki Minaj says.

No so-called reality show is free of manipulation, of course, or just plain bad judgment. Even the coaches on The Voice, which has been gaining on Idol in the ratings, have been known to over-praise contestants.

But at a time when The Voice is widely perceived as having more integrity than Idol, for the latter’s judges to seem to be shilling for one contestant at the expense of others is just plain bad for the brand.

But I digress. Here’s a look at what happened Wednesday. I’ve ranked the performances from my most to least favourite.

Round 1, Songs of Contestants’ Choosing

Angie Miller: I’ll agree with Keith Urban on one thing; at this stage of the game it’s not just about pretty voices, it’s about making us feel something. And that’s why Angie tops my list here. Her cover of Jessie J’s “Who You Are” wasn’t perfect: she was a bit flat on the lowest notes, her pitch wasn’t perfect and she still sounds strident when she pushes in her upper register, but as the song progressed Angie delivered a raw passion that we’d been missing up to that point in the show. Angie is obviously using her head as well as her heart, doing the whole song behind the piano, right where the judges and viewers like her best. And may I just add, even if host Ryan Seacrest was trying to manipulate us, that when Angie’s crying grandmother was invited onstage for a hug it gave me the warm fuzzies.

Amber Holcomb: Celine Dion’s “The Power of Love” was certainly in Amber’s wheelhouse, as the saying goes. Her vibrato was lovely on the a cappella part and she was in the pocket on the chorus, but it’s pretty dull as far as song choices go. And why was Amber singing so far away from everyone, stranded partway up a lighted staircase? The judges gave Amber a standing O (except for Mariah Carey, apparently the tail of her dress was caught under her chair for at least part of the night) and were unanimous in their rapture. Minaj and Urban both said it was the perfect song choice, Carey said Amber gave a classic song a 2013 flavour (no, not really) and Jackson said Amber had shown the most growth of anyone in the contest. In fact, Minaj told Amber, “You don’t even feel like a contestant anymore.” So take that, Angie, Candice and Kree.

Kree Harrison: This was far from the train wreck that Minaj made it out to be. It’s true that Kree sounded disengaged during the first verse of Susan Tedeschi’s “It Hurt So Bad,” but she got it back on the chorus and ended the song with a gorgeous sustained note. Whether the unfamiliarity of the song or the judges’ negative comments hurt Kree in the the voting remains to be seen. Jackson said it wasn’t Kree’s best vocal and Urban said there wasn’t enough emotion in it. Minaj went even further, telling Kree to meditate on her song choices and what she’s putting into her songs “because that is not a top four worthy performance.”

Candice Glover: It’s great that Candice chose to sing a song that’s only a couple of years old, “Find Your Love” by Toronto rapper Drake. Alas, the execution left something to be desired. There wasn’t really enough melody for Candice to grab onto, which may be why she overcompensated with the runs, and at times it sounded like Ray Chew was playing a completely different song on the piano. That being said, Candice still has the best technical voice in the competition. Minaj complained that Candice made the song sound old-fashioned and Jackson said that “every phrase doesn’t need a run.” Urban disagreed with Minaj and praised Candice for her authenticity.

Round 2, “One-Hit Wonders”

Angie: I’m not sure that mouldy oldies was what viewers had in mind when they suggested one-hit wonders as a theme in an AT&T-sponsored contest. Angie’s choice, Julie London’s “Cry Me a River,” was the oldest, dating to 1955, but I thought it was the most effective. Angie looked like a diva in her black dress, her pitch – an issue in past performances – was nearly perfect and she used a very sweet, high part of her voice that we’re not used to hearing. Showing people new sides of yourself at this stage of the game is one of the smartest things you can do. As Minaj colourfully put it, “You came out tonight to snatch some wigs off some heads, honey chile.”

Kree: Sure, Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” is a hoary old classic rock chestnut from 1967, but I thought Kree sang the hell out of it. This was the Kree of the sweet voice and plaintive wail that we’ve loved since the beginning. Yet, according to Minaj, the performance won’t keep Kree out of the bottom two on Thursday. Carey and Jackson praised it, but Urban said Kree has to do songs that are either “really intimate (and) kind of vulnerable” or “burnout rockers” and not middle ground songs like this one.

Candice: The good news is that “Emotion” (the 1977 Samantha Sang version, not the later Bee Gees version) had a melody that Candice could latch onto; the bad news is the whole thing was kind of sleepy. Urban took issue with the song choice and Minaj spent most of her critique time taking Iovine to task for comments about Amber. Carey praised Candice for singing so well with a bad cold but then threw her a back-handed compliment. “You are definitely not a one-hit wonder,” Carey said, which I presume referred to Candice’s “Love Song” performance of two weeks ago.

Amber: Out of all the one-hit wonders out there, why would Amber choose “MacArthur Park”? And not the cheesy but fun Donna Summer version (which was certainly not a one-hit wonder) but the campy 1968 Richard Harris version? It’s a silly song to begin with and in Amber’s hands it was also boring. Amber sounded flat in parts, the orchestral accompaniment overwhelmed her and the song seemed to get away from her as it went on, as did her pitch. And yet the judges gave it a partial standing ovation and were fulsome in their praises. “You’re dominating tonight, baby ... That was an incredible performance,” said Urban. “You’re just like this blooming flower,” said Minaj. “If y’all don’t know who Amber is y’all should know tonight she’s in it to win it,” said Jackson. I was still trying to process the disconnect between what I heard and what the judges said when Iovine came on with one of his mini critiques, saying, “That song is corny and not even Amber can pull off corny.” Amen. But Minaj later used part of the time she should have been focusing on Candice to fire back at Iovine. “I have to admit the last Amber performance it was disconnected in some places (but) we were giving her props on how she’s grown,” Minaj complained. Well, if they thought it was disconnected, why didn’t they say so? Seacrest later pulled Iovine out onstage where Minaj pretended to throttle him, but he stood his ground.

The Duets

Candice and Angie: Can’t say I loved the slowed down arrangement of Rihanna’s “Stay,” but Angie and Candice gave it their all. Neither was perfect vocally (I swear I heard Candice get a little pitchy, although it could have been the cold’s fault), but at least they committed to it and interacted enough to make it a true duet.

Amber and Kree: Neither woman looked completely at ease performing Adele’s “Rumour Has It,” but the song suited Kree’s voice better. Yet Urban and Minaj were more interested in praising Amber for her stance at the microphone and for “dominating” the stage.

Questions abound as the finale looms. Why the big push on Amber? Why is Kree getting the short end of the stick? And will the voters pay attention to the judges? Is the save still in play? What’s the surprise twist that Seacrest promised?

We should get answers to the last few questions Thursday at 8 p.m. on CTV Two when the top four become the top three.

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